Weather has been identified as a cause or contributing factor to many aviation accidents and fatalities. Accidents can occur when a chain of events leads to a failure of an aircraft system, a mistake on part of the crew piloting the aircraft, or a combination thereof. Improved levels of weather information and the use of pilot decision aids may be helpful in breaking the chain of events that leads to an accident.
It is known that when using conventional weather radar systems, both the shape of storm cells and reflectivity levels are indicators of significant weather threats. Pilot training normally includes familiarization of characteristic weather cell shapes displayed in two-dimensions that may imply significant weather threats. Examples include (some of which are illustrated in FIG. 1):                U-shapes;        thin protruding fingers;        scalloped edges;        hooks;        V-notch;        pendant;        steep rain gradients;        line echo wave pattern; and        bow shaped line of echoes.        
These cells are generally associated with conditions such as unstable air masses, hail and tornadoes and should be avoided.
Flight crews are currently required to visually detect these types of weather threats, an exercise that can be extremely challenging given the workload of the flight crew during flight, particularly during terminal area operations.